{whose path are you on?}

Goodness. I’m excited for this post :] I’m excited for this YEAR! Just a few minutes ago I was working on a few things on my computer when I realized there’s something I really need to, want to, share with you.

And what I want to share is on straying from the norm to make sure you’re doing what’s best for you // your family // your business // your blank.

You see, when you focus on what’s best for you you really are doing the world a giant favor. It’s the least selfish thing you can do {give me a few more minutes to elaborate} because you’re putting your best self forward. You’re being the most considerate of others, you’re presenting your mind + spirit to the world in the healthiest form possible.

Sometimes we have to stray from the norm to make sure we’re doing exactly what we’re called to do. Oh goodness, it’s scary. It can make me sweat. It exhausts me {for just a moment}. But, it’s what keeps my spirit burning brightly :] It’s what makes me feel alive.

Just minutes before writing this post I was thinking about what I needed to accomplish today:
* make sure my email gets read + replied to
* think about the posts I want to write this week
* update my my Inspiration Board {aka: take down the pumpkin photo}
* walk Bauer throughout our neighborhood
* talk to friends/family on the phone
* and a few other “light” tasks

You’re probably thinking, THAT’S ALL you need to do today??? What about Twitter, or Facebook or designing new product or sewing products or taking photos for X linky party or ______?

But guess what? All of those tasks, and seriously a long-list of even MORE tasks, are “scheduled” for another day OR are already getting done by my team. It’s not that I can’t do them or won’t do them, or whatever strong word you may be thinking… It’s that TODAY I have certain tasks that must get done for the future of my business in mind. Because of this mindset I know exactly where my business lies ~ we have an overall calendar + budget for all of these tasks to help me stay on the right path.

A few thoughts I have, often:
* Every task we accomplish has to have at least two purposes
* Every task I accomplish has to serve my business, and only MY business, well

The beauty of this mindset is that, if applied, your life, your business, your family, will soar.

What’s the point in feeling rushed, stressed, overwhelmed — and most importantly — like I didn’t do something “the right way” just so others think I accomplished all of my daily tasks the way others would/should/could have had we all been on the same path? Yuck, there’s that phrase again ~ “the same path”.

I don’t want to be on that path anymore.

Yes, anymore.

I stepped on that path many times last year and truthfully, that was the worst decision I could have made for my business.

YEOW! I’m feeling alive :] I’m going to share more about this in just a bit, but for now I want to ask you…

Love, love this! After 37.5 years, I started my own journey/path towards accomplishing my life list and blogging. So glad to just be excited for others now when I read their posts or about their lives, instead of wishing for that to be my path.
Thank you for your words and the reminder that I am on the right path… my path.

Jenny, THIS is amazing. That you can be happy with and for others, instead of wishing you were where they are. Now, I certainly this isn’t always the case (totally speaking for myself here), but that we can spend more time feeling happy instead of more time feeling jealous is fabulous. Seriously, it’s fabulous :)

I feel pretty certain that I am on the best path I can be on! :) I had to take a big step back this year and really consider what I was doing and the time frame I had put on myself (based on when others where doing it) to reopen shop. I had to change because it wasn’t working for me. And I thought that would seriously upset people but you know what. It didn’t. Making sure I was doing what was best for me, my family and my business proved to others that I am a real person with real goals and real struggles to get to them. And you know what – they APPRECIATED it. It was a great feeling! :)

I think most of the time it’s only a *matter* of time when it really just doesn’t matter anymore. It’s like fighting a natural flow moving forward ~ trying to do what others do, when, how, etc. There comes a time when it’s impossible to go against that natural flow, and so not only will it make it easier to go with it — which ironically often means you are doing something different.

Sometimes I feel like my path is through the middle of the rainforest and I’m tromping my way through it. It’s hard sometimes when people remind me of all the things I should be doing (exercising more, sleeping more, traveling more, cleaning more, etc etc) but I’m slowly learning to shrug it off. The biggest thing helping me to realize that I am on the right path for me at the moment is my Happiness Project. I’ve been breaking all of my goals down by the month and tracking my progress every day.

It’s easier to stay upbeat in the face of all the “shoulds” when in my heart I know (and on a piece of paper I can see) all of the amazing things I’m choosing to do. So now my path is about what I “choose to do” and “choose not to do.”

That’s one of the *toughest* questions to answer. I am trying to create my own path & not follow everyone else (I hate that!) but sometimes its hard when no way is really the “right” way. You just have to figure it out on your own & create you own path or journey, I guess that’s the fun in it too, you get to decide & succeed or fail & just keep trying. Thanks for the inspiration today! :-)

Girl, I love this! It’s so easy to feel like you have to follow other people’s recipe to achieve their results. The best path in life we can take is our own, and I have been realizing that a lot my self lately! xo

Gussy, I don’t think you realize how much you inspire people. I started a business about 1 1/2 years ago, not long after I turned 50! I have been reading your blog and getting so much great information and inspiration from you! I love this post. It will have me thinking about what path I’m on all day!!
Thanks!!
Kelly

Thanks for sharing such an encouraging post. I love reading your blog. I’m still on that path of trying to find my perfect fit. I’m still on the “trying” on stage I think! But that’s part of my journey I think. Again, thanks for this timely post. Just what I needed today.

I believe you’ve hit that proverbial nail on the head. We tend to want to copy what makes others successful, thinking their formula should fit our business. You have to work hard to be successful. Doing the best quality work and satisfying the customer should be our prime business objective. A business plan is important and It truly helps to read your blog and slowly incorporate some of your ideas. I need to make a list of 2012 goals, check them off as I reach them but continue to add new ones. Your posts always inspire me to stretch myself and keep learning new things at my age!

gussy, i loved every word of this post! it’s like you were really speaking to me…i read it as i was getting ready to go to work. thanks for the words of encouragement! you are such an inspiration to those of us that are trying to “find our way” out here.

What a great post. My husband and I recently made a big decision that shocked my family, but we knew it was the best thing for us, our happiness, and who we want to be. It’s important to note that the best thing to do isn’t necessarily the easiest. But I believe we create our own happiness! I’m happy to see your business come to life, and it will surely get better and better with the positive and realistic outlook you have. Congrats to you!

You are a breath of fresh air! Thanks so much for the beautiful words. I need this and need to remember this daily. I think I will print out your little “path” phrase and put it on my inspiration board as well. xoxo

awwww, Amy — gosh, thank you!!!!! this has been on my heart for weeks now and i’m soooo excited to continue sharing. i definitely have more to share than just this post. it can be so overwhelming if i’m not on the right path.

This is an amazing post that we all need to always be reminded of! I feel like this year is truly a year to find who I’m really meant to be, who I was created to be and what I was created for. it is so freakin scary. But it is the very best thing you can do!!!! Your heart truly becomes alive when you find out and live out your authentic self…
XOXOXO
Pame

I love reading your blog, so many times I have thought “she is like my secret life coach.” This is just the encouragement I needed today! Thank you for being willing to do what works for you and your business, and encouraging me (and others) to do the same thing for ourselves!

Thank you for such words of wisdom. I love your honesty when it comes to topics like this – it’s so refreshing! I have often thought about my identity, who I want to be & how to become that person. And how I become that person because I want true happiness for myself. I have spent the last year wanting to so badly to start my own indie biz, but have never felt good enough because I am constantly comparing myself to others. I was setting myself up for failure before I even started! But no more. My motto for this new year is to “be more”. And “be more” I will be!

I’m really REALLY trying to figure out my path. I’m doing grad school, sometimes I love it. When I don’t love it, I find myself baking (thinking about vanilla macaroons with strawberry jam icing for V-day) or sewing things (current works: felted wool throw, oxford-to-purse upcycle). It’s the end goal, the actual purpose/guide that is currently eluding me. But, I’ll just keep rocking what ever ignites my fancy, until I figure it out. The hardest part is NOT doing things/sticking with things just because other people expect me to.

Holy smokes this is awesome. My husband and I have this conversation about my jewelry all the time. I don’t want to make what everyone else is making – I don’t want to copy or be like someone else. I want to make what makes me feel s good and makes me happy” and if people buy it – all the better – right? Once I started making what “I” loved, I had this sense of freedom and I just felt better about things in general. :-) xoxo

I’m trying *TRYING* to be on the path that God wants me to be on…the path that follows HIM, first and foremost. However, I don’t always feel like I’m on that path – the one He wants me to be on. Sometimes, my path becomes just that … MINE … when it should be His. The day-to-day routines/activities and demands/pressures to get ‘everything’ done tends to take over. I’m trying SO hard to work on this because honestly, when it all comes down to what is most important, it’s not always the ‘stuff’ I think is important.

Yes, I’m human and am forgiven for allowing my priorities to get out of whack! However, my choice (EVERY morning when I wake up) needs to be to follow the path that HE leads me on. I need to constantly ask for His help with that. :)

Thank you for sharing this! Up to this point in my life I have so often followed the path that others have made, and only ended up completely miserable. This is exactly what I needed to hear today. This is truly the year that I pave my own path- one that is right for me. You are so inspiring:)

This is exactly what I keep reminding myself of the past few months. I need to do what works for ME! Thank you, it’s true, you make me smile everyday too. You also intimidate me, that’s why I keep reminding myself that your path is not my path! : >

Love, love, LOVE this post. That past three {yes, THREE!} years we’ve been on our crazy roller coaster adoption process. Finally we were able to arrive home on Thanksgiving Day with our daughter. In the meantime, my indie biz took a backseat. It was, at the time, what was best for our family. Now, this year, 2012, I am on the path to pushing my little biz to the next level. Never in a way that will take away from my family time, but in a way that will help to benefit my family as well as continue to support orphan care. It’s my heart. It’s the best path, right now, for me. :)

SO what I needed to hear today! I was catching up on my blog reading and came across this post. I am feeling stretched to my limit. I have a constant nagging feeling that here is always something that needs to be done, waiting for my to discover, mocking me because I don’t think it’s the right way for it to be done. It is exhausting. I need to calm down, do what is best for me and let God show me what path to be on.

this is one of my biggest struggles for sure! i am slow at just about everything, and hoping that my path for starting this etsy shop up by april is going to be accomplished, not for anyone but me! :) (although that is hard for me to even type, i’m a people pleaser through-and-through.)

[…] got some really fabulous replies to these questions… that you’ve been thinking about the posts from last week + that the ideas are stirring. my goal for 2012 is to make it seriously my best year […]

[…] having a home business is tricky. if you have one i applaud you!!! my husband and i are constantly having “Gussy Meetings” to formulate new plans and talk about new ideas. but there’s a lot more paperwork and supplies needed, way more that i ever thought. now that my office has moved to the living room it’s even more important to stay organized so the business can stay on the path that’s right for me. […]

[…] + product re-design in January. Very briefly I touched on what brought this on, and to be honest I’m pretty bummed I haven’t touched on it more. It’s been such an important part of my business. Then February began my travel season, every […]

HELLO, GORGEOUS!
Maggie Whitley Designs is a tight-knit community of handmade makers, wives, mamas and encouragers. I share inspiration alongside my story as a handmade business owner and mama.
My husband and I live in a cozy apartment in Los Angeles with our two young children. We are adventure seekers, dog lovers and color enthusiasts. Click here to read more...

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